Meaning of effective altruist | Babel Free

Definitions

A proponent of effective altruism ("a philosophy and social movement that advocates the use of evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others").

Examples

“At the very least, effective altruists believe that our existing animal charity is misplaced: The vast majority of it goes to shelters, yet according to the EA organization Animal Charity Evaluators, in 2019, for every one animal euthanized in a shelter in the United States, approximately 6,428 farmed land animals were slaughtered for meat.”

“It has also become an influential subculture in the Bay Area, where devotees commonly refer to themselves as effective altruists in the same way they might describe themselves as leftists or psychonauts.”

“Effective altruists talk about both “neartermism” and “longtermism.” […] The movement itself is still a big tent; there are effective altruists who remain dedicated to targeted interventions with proven results, including vaccination campaigns (and, of course, antimalarial bed nets).”

“Mr. Altman believes that effective altruists have played an important role in the rise of artificial intelligence, alerting the industry to the dangers. He also believes they exaggerate these dangers.”

CEFR level